Osborn

When S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first reinforcements arrived at the attacked base, there was already nothing left in the entire facility worth saving.

Flames soared into the sky across the plaza. Wreckage from Quinjets and heavy armored vehicles littered the ground, blackened by merciless fire, while electrical sparks scattered like rain through every corridor of the facility.

Nick Fury stood atop the platform in the devastated hall, his expression grim. Agents hurried back and forth across the hall, searching for any trace the attackers might have left behind.

Deputy Director Maria Hill rode the metal escalator up to the platform. Fury turned around. "Any leads?"

"Yes." Hill nodded and handed him a tablet bearing a gray S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem. "I don't think they ever intended to hide. Our surveillance cameras recorded the entire incident."

Fury took the tablet. The screen unlocked, and blurry surveillance footage began to play. In the recording, they could vaguely make out a figure in Black Armor descending like a divine warrior, effortlessly suppressing every S.H.I.E.L.D. defense force in the base alone.

Fury's single eye narrowed.

"Is it just me, or does this guy look like—"

"The person who appeared at the Tesseract Research Institute? Yes, I thought so too, sir," Hill said.

Fury frowned and pondered for a while.

"Create a separate file for this person. Mark the threat level as the highest." Fury gave the order.

"Yes, sir." Hill hesitated before asking, "Should we ask Stark for his opinion?"

Her reasoning was naturally sound. Based on the information currently available, Tony Stark was unquestionably the world's foremost authority on individual armor technology.

"No, not for now." Fury shook his head. "Not yet."

***

Saturday night.

Crowds of all kinds packed the area outside the venue, surrounded by colorful lights. Reporters from the city's major media outlets made up the majority. The mayor's public relations team had clearly done an excellent job; this charity gala, centered around the mayor's broad-minded generosity, had indeed received the attention it deserved.

When Michael Passo stepped out of his dark-blue supercar, flashes almost immediately converged on him. The reporters enthusiastically shouted the young CEO's name, as though whoever shouted the loudest would get the best shot.

Their enthusiasm was hardly surprising. This young CEO, who had risen to prominence in only two years, was indeed a remarkable new star. His forward-thinking ideas across multiple technological fields had led Passo Technology from a fledgling company to its current scale in just two years. It truly could be called a miracle.

Several years earlier, Stark Industries, the United States' largest arms supplier, announced that it was withdrawing from weapons manufacturing. That same year, Tony Stark, the owner of Stark Group, announced that he was Iron Man. The incident caused an enormous uproar across the country and fundamentally altered the balance of interests.

After all, Stark Industries' arms trade had long formed an intricate chain of interests. Stark's withdrawal meant the established order would be reshuffled. Many manufacturers dependent on Stark Industries for survival needed to find other opportunities, while the military's massive annual orders for Stark Industries would all need to be put back out to tender.

A war without smoke swiftly began, and for quite some time, the country's military-industrial sector was thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Hammer Tech and Osborn Industries had originally been the favored contenders. Almost everyone believed one of them would claim the throne vacated by Stark Industries and become the arms giant at the peak of the industry. The conflict gradually turned into a protracted war. For two or three years, the two sides fought openly and covertly without either gaining the upper hand. During that time, no third party had even considered entering the war between the two giants—because there was clearly no chance of winning.

Yet no one had expected that Passo Technology, a newly founded little company with neither fame nor foundation, would surge ahead at this crucial moment and enter the battle.

This newly arrived, tiny competitor had not initially drawn the attention of either giant. They truly had no reason to take such an insignificant enemy seriously. To them, Passo Technology at the time was like an ant at a giant's feet; crushing it would have taken no effort at all.

Yet the series of achievements this little ant produced next left everyone dumbfounded. First, it used an Electromagnetic Rifle that had previously existed only as a concept to snatch a massive Department of Defense order from Hammer Tech. Then it introduced a portable special-purpose jetpack, completely suppressing the Glider Board Osborn Technologies had been developing and taking profits that had originally belonged to Osborn Industries.

Before the two giants could recover, Passo Technology followed up with a Laser Rifle—an energy weapon experts deemed to be "in its preliminary stages." Although the technology could not yet be called mature, it represented an impact on the entire weapons industry and perhaps even a sign that global weapons technology was entering a new era.

Before this, the whole world knew that Iron Man was the only person to publicly possess energy weapon technology.

The Department of Defense had now placed a large-scale order for these Laser Rifles from Passo Technology and had made its intention for long-term cooperation quite clear. Though the situation had not yet been fully decided, Passo Technology, which had emerged from nowhere, had clearly gained the advantage in this battle for long-term interests.

By the time everyone finally began to take this new player seriously, it was already too late. This emerging company had dealt with pressure from every side with unbelievable ease—both the overt kind and the kind that could not stand the light of day.

Unfortunately, this young man surrounded by glory was rather low-key and not the type who enjoyed appearing in public. Other than his publicly known, almost unbelievable accomplishments, the public knew very little about him. It was no wonder the reporters were so enthusiastic.

The venue was packed with people. After passing through the doors, Michael had taken only two or three steps before he had no choice but to stop and chat with several prominent figures he did not actually know well. Their topics ranged from business and trade to the latest musical, then to the cover girl of this month's fashion magazine. Michael wore a warm, modest smile, appearing genuinely interested in every subject.

"Well, look who's here."

Michael turned toward the voice and saw a middle-aged man in an impeccably tailored suit, with slicked-back hair, walking toward him through the crowd. The man wore a smile, but even a blind man could see the sharp edge hidden beneath it.

That was Norman Osborn, owner of Osborn Corporation. In other words, he was also one of Michael's greatest competitors at the moment. The instant their gazes met, invisible sparks seemed to fly through the air, and the scent of gunpowder spread between them.

Norman Osborn, the supervillain from the Spider-Man series, had developed a split personality in the original work due to some enhancement serum. Dressed in a Halloween-clown-like costume, he flew around on a Glider all day causing explosions, calling himself the "Green Goblin."

The MCU film series had not featured the Green Goblin so far. But even if Osborn truly turned into the Green Goblin, it did not matter. Michael judged the Green Goblin to be nothing more than "a Halloween clown on a Glider Board with outdated equipment," not a real threat.

Without changing his expression, Michael politely greeted him. "Mr. Osborn."

Norman Osborn took two Martinis from a waiter and handed one to Michael. Osborn swirled his glass, then lightly clinked it against Michael's.

"Allow me to toast New York's youngest genius." He drank half his martini and let out a breath. "It's truly rare to see the great Michael Passo with time to attend this sort of social event. I thought a genius's time was as precious as gold. Shouldn't you be in the lab, modifying jet Thrusters or something?"

Osborn was clearly still unhappy about Passo Technology's order for backpack jet Thrusters. The Department of Defense had originally decided to purchase Osborn Technologies' Glider Boards, and they had even invested funds into mass production. Yet at that critical moment, Passo Technology had stepped in and released jet Thrusters superior in performance, cost, and convenience, stealing the order away.

So calling the two sides enemies now would not have been an exaggeration.

Michael smiled dismissively. "No, Mr. Osborn. Thank you for your concern, but the thruster's functions are basically complete and don't need improvement for the moment. However, we have recently been trying to develop laser-guided Micro-missiles and equip them with various warheads. The project has entered the testing phase. I'm sure the military boys will be interested."

Norman Osborn's expression darkened once again—what Michael had described was precisely one of Osborn Corporation's projects in development. They were testing laser-guided Micro-missiles mounted on Gliders, hoping to attract the interest of the military brass again.

Applause rose from around them like a wave. The people in the hall stopped chatting and consciously opened a path. The mayor stepped onto the stage amid the guests' welcome. He waved, expressed his gratitude to all the guests, and began a conventional, inspiring speech.

Osborn said nothing more. But throughout the entire evening, he repeatedly cast sinister glances, intentional or otherwise, toward a certain young man in the hall, as though he wanted to deliver a fatal blow with his razor-sharp gaze.

But he noticed something as well.

Throughout the entire night, the other man never once looked directly at him again.